


Stealing Jackson

by ChocolateWhore



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, ellie gets bit again, it may or may not end well idk, not sure what tagging is anymore, riley is a jerk but she has motives, riley isn't dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:49:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27096838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocolateWhore/pseuds/ChocolateWhore
Summary: First, an attack on Jackson sent the town into chaos. Ellie doesn't know whose alive and whose dead. She doesn't even know where they are or where they're going.Her and Dina are battered, bruised, and forced away from Jackson. Desperate to just survive one more night, the two seek refuge in an abandoned cabin in the woods. There, they can talk things out and come up with a plan of attack. But the universe has other plans, as a familiar face makes its way into the same cabin. A face Ellie hadn't seen in years. But something's different. A once friendly face is now darker, and Dina can't help but feel that Ellie's old friend has ulterior motives.
Relationships: Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Riley (The Last of Us), Ellie/Riley (The Last of Us)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 59





	1. Ellie

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic in this fandom! Sorry if any characters are a little out of character, I've never written as Riley or Dina before, so this is a first!

The snow floated down gently through the air, nestling upon rolling piles and hills of the pure white that blanketed the Earth. Not a sound nor any light other than the moon could disturb the blissful silence that carried on for miles. Wildlife trudged through the growing mounds of fresh snow; wolves with their fur coated in white and the deer trotting desperately out of sight and earshot of the large beasts, but to no avail. The scent had been picked up, and the hunt and begun. Or, so it would have, if the array of high pitched whistles and pounding footsteps hadn't startled the pack of wolves. They hesitated, watching as two figures bounded through the snow on horseback, kicking up white dust behind them.

Arrows flew from beyond the trees, getting lost in the snow and embedding themselves in thick coats.  _ “Fuck!” _

__ “Dina!?”

“I'm alright,” Dina seethed, snapping the reigns harder, though they both knew that this was as fast as they could go in this kind of weather. “Just keep going!”

Ellie's grip tightened, glancing over her shoulder at Dina to confirm she was telling the truth. Through the haze of snow that was now falling harder and faster, she'd be lucky if she could even keep track of them. The whistles and arrows had ceased now, enough that Ellie had brought her horse to a stop as Dina caught up to them. The wind was picking up now, and the cold was biting through their clothes.

“Where to, now?” The dark haired girl called over the howling of the wind.

Ellie hesitated, shielding her eyes from the snow as she twisted around in her seat. All she could see was pure white swirling around them. Had the wind come any harder, she would be knocked off her horse. “Fuck,” she swiped a bitter cold sleeve across her frozen nose as she turned her horse.  _ Which way had they come from? Did it even matter?  _ She dropped her gaze, watching as the hoof prints were quickly being buried under the snow. “Uh...” If they didn't keep going, they were as good as dead. There was no surviving out in this. Forward was all they had. “This way, c'mon!” Shimmer whinnied, stamping reluctantly, which drew an irritated growl from Ellie. “C'mon, let's fucking  _ go!” _

__ The two of them were off, lost in the swirling white void of the storm before long, barely keeping each other in their sights. Ellie couldn't even feel her toes or her fingers. Any throbbing wounds from what they'd escaped from were no longer relevant. She was so fucking tired.

The wind howled in her ears, frozen strands of hair whipped violently across her face, her hood proving to be as useless as her gloves, now. Checking over her shoulder once again, she verified that the other two were still behind her, and a slight flood of warmth spread through her. A feeling of dull relief, no matter how short lived. Dina's head was low, barring her face from the wind. Her nose was red and ice clung to her dark lashes. Fear built up in Ellie's stomach as she turned ahead, again. Her mind swam, desperately. Where were they? How far from Jackson had they strayed?

“El...Fuck, I'm tired. Maybe we could just hole up in a car or something,” Dina suggested, her voice nearly lost in the wind. The same cold fear gripped at Ellie's heart as she too felt the same exhaustion.

“Just a little further,” she managed to convince herself. Even as she spoke, the reality of the situation was grave. Hole up in a car or next to a tree, they were looking for the coziest way to die. It didn't matter. It didn't fucking matter. But Ellie was determined to make sure it did. The silvery mist that snaked from her lips was lost in the wind with a deep sigh as she urged herself to continue. It didn't matter now how they got there or how they wound up in the situation. All that mattered was finding a place to hide out until the storm cleared.

“Ellie, look!” Dina's cry of what – joy? Relief? - snapped Ellie from her own reverie and she twisted, following Dina's wide gaze. A black shape stood, barely visible against the hailing snow, but it offered enough hope that Ellie veered Shimmer off course and down through a steep ditch that lead to the cabin. As they drew closer, relief flowed through Ellie as she noted a decent sized barn, even if partially collapsed. It would be safe enough for the horses, and the cabin itself looked sturdy enough for her and Dina to warm up and wait out the storm. Her and Dina shared a look as they approached the barn, which was large and empty, and already a dozen times warmer than the bitter wind that was beyond the walls.

“We'll hide out in there for the night,” Ellie decided as she slipped off the saddle of her own horse and retrieving her extra bag. Dina didn't seem to have the energy to protest if she was having any other thoughts, though her dark eyes were glazed with exhaustion and relief. She held out a hand to the darker haired girl, who took it gratefully as the two braved the snow storm once more.

  
  


Glass littered the wooden floor, the wind still howling outside, beating against an old tarp that was now covering the window. It was still warmer than the outside, and the flickering of a fire in the fireplace down the hall was so very inviting. Dina could hear the crackling of the fire as she floated down the hall, her legs pulling her towards the sound and the gentle light that glowed from inside the furthest bedroom.

The cabin was in a state of disarray, which of course, was to be expected. Though, upon further inspection, it had seemed that the cabin had remained forgotten, and untouched for the past several years. They had found piles of blankets, tucked away inside a closet and a stash of firewood just outside in a small wood room. The place had seemed to be frozen in time, as if it had been waiting all these years for someone else to seek shelter from the cold.

“Hey,” greeted Dina as she rounded the corner into the bedroom. Ellie looked up from her seat on the wooden chair. Her green eyes lit up a bit, the sight of Dina seeming to warm her, entirely. Still, Dina's eyes rolled over Ellie like melted chocolate; gentle and warm as she slipped the door shut behind her. Dark brows knitted together in a look of worry that Ellie knew all too well, and the redhead sighed, twisting in her chair to reveal her bare front to Dina, knowing full well she couldn't mask the blood that had caked her arm and fingers.

“Alright,” the girl sighed, lowering herself to the mattress beside Ellie's chair, leaning over to get a closer look at the wound on her shoulder. “Let's get you patched up, first.” It wasn't deep, nor was it particularly nasty, which Ellie was grateful for, but she still winced each time Dina drew the cloth across the skin around it.

Ellie was silent as Dina worked, her mind wandering to some place that felt so distant, even if she had only been there a few hours before. Her body was numb, fingers curled into fists against her thighs as she trained her eyes on the glow of the fire before them. Only three hours ago, they were returning from patrol, walking through the gates of Jackson. Then they were...  _ Oh, fuck.  _ Ellie ground her teeth together, which Dina took as a sign of discomfort. She rested a warm hand on Ellie's back, but even then she couldn't loosen up. The reality of it all was crashing down on her, like a knife in the heart.

__ _ The whistles broke the silence of the night. Arrows flew, raining down from the trees. Gunfire pierced the air, lighting up as small sparks in the night. Fire, there was so much fire. Screaming, yelling. Joel. _

__ _ “Ellie!” _

__ _ “Joel? What the fuck is going on?” _

__ _ “Take the horses an' run!” _

__ _ “Ellie!” _

__ _ “Ellie?” _

__ “Ellie?” The redhead snapped back to the present, her chest feeling a little too tight and too knotted for her liking. She lifted her gaze to Dina, who was still watching her with concern lacing her eyes and her voice. Ellie searched her gaze, parting her lips in some sort of excuse. Something,  _ anything.  _ Dina sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair from Ellie's face before leaning back on the bed to admire the freshly cleaned wound. “Why don't you get some rest, yeah?”

Ellie's eyes flicked to the oak hope chest at the foot of the bed, where Joel's pistol sat there. Dried blood was crusted on the barrel, and the handle was badly scratched. Her eyes flitted to the door, then. What if someone  _ was  _ dumb enough to have followed them? Wasn't that how they'd ended up in that mess? But then her attention was drawn to Dina, and there was a glimpse of broken hopelessness behind her eyes that made Ellie melt. A look that told her that she was just as lost, and Ellie complied. Leaving her seat beside the fireplace behind, she eased herself on the bed and under the heavy quilts that Dina had found.

The space was unbelievably warm. After their time out in the snowstorm, Ellie was almost certain she'd never feel warmth like that, again.

For what felt like hours, Ellie could only hear the crackle of the fire, and Dina's faint breathing beside her. It was a feeling that would have filled her with happiness; a tantalizing euphoria that would have swelled in her chest. She would have wished that moment never to end. But that was only if the situation had been different. Now, she opened her mouth to ask the question that had been nagging at her from the moment they had reached the cabin. “What now?”


	2. Riley

The wind was screaming, now. She didn't know if the whistles and gunshots were meant for her, or if they were meant for a threat she couldn't see. The thing was, she didn't care. It was better for two foes to fight one another as a distraction, than for her to get involved. Besides, she had gotten what she wanted. Only now, she was so terribly lost. Rumor had it that there was some sort of town, an actual growing, thriving town called Jackson. It sounded like some sort of utopia, a breath of fresh air in a broken and ruthless world. Or so it would be, but that wasn't what Riley was after. No, she could have done without the promise of a utopia. There had been so many broken promises in the past that she didn't dare hold her breath.

Not in a world where that breath could be her last.

But no, that utopia wasn't what she'd been chasing. That dream world that the rumors loved so much was home to someone with a lot of blood on his hands. A very bad man, and a very large arsenal. To Riley, the promise was so much more than just a utopia. It was hope for a future she could save for herself.

However, that was only going to work if she could survive this bitter cold. The black night around her was blurring into the wind and snowflakes that whipped around her at a dizzying rate. She couldn't even hear the sound of gunfire, anymore, and she cursed herself for losing track of them. If she couldn't tell where they were, she hoped they couldn't find her, either. It seemed to her that the world was trying its damnedest to force her to give up.

She would have laughed, too, even as she stumbled through the woods with the snow piling up around her. Even as the snow caked into her hair and froze against her skin. Even as she felt the numbing exhaustion trying to overtake her body. She still would have laughed. Maybe it was the sense of old habits dying hard. Maybe it was just because she had nothing else to do other than continue.  _ Maybe.  _ It was always maybe with her.

_ Maybe  _ join the Fireflies.

_ Maybe  _ stay behind.

_ Maybe  _ run away.

A flicker of light at the bottom of a distant hill brought a bubble of laughter from her chest, as though she couldn't believe her luck. It was just far enough that Riley truly wondered if it would be just beyond her reach. Her mind considered it, numbly as she trudged towards it. Would she die as she stumbled towards it? Or was it just a trick of the mind? She recalled vaguely once, she'd heard that a persons mind can keep them swimming beyond exhaustion if they're told that they will soon reach land. Maybe it was some old fairytale, but Riley was willing to believe it, if it meant getting her down to the little light.

She just had to keep swimming.

The wind was beating harder against her, blurring out the distant hope from time to time, and she began to fear she wasn't getting closer. But yet, there it was, no more of a figment of her imagination than the storm was. Billowing wildly in the wind was a blue tarp that was attached to the front window, the screen door banging relentlessly against the side of the cabin. Riley approached it, twisting the freezing knob the best she could and the door creaked open. Though the house was anything but warm, Riley felt as though she'd just been hit in the face with an oven, and she breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she allowed herself to entertain the idea that she was back in Boston, or that she was alone and safe.

But the hushed voices coming from somewhere within the cabin told her otherwise, and that brief moment faded into a scowl as she drew her gun. Though frozen fingers hardly could be convinced to curl around the trigger, she hoped that the threat was still the same. She could of course, go in, hoping they were a friendly group willing to share food and warmth for the night, but Riley knew better. If she held her breath, she'd be dead.

And so, she approached the closed door with caution, hoping to gauge the situation by the quiet conversation they were having. Several things came to mind in that moment, most of which ranged anywhere from sex to some sort of devious plan. Riley had walked into all of the above at one point or another, and none of which were very welcoming.

_ “What now?” _

__ A hushed voice was asking, and Riley leaned her back to the wall. For a moment, she almost lost her breath. Maybe she really was dead. For a moment, she thought she'd heard a ghost. But no, that was impossible. The wind was still howling against the broken window. You can hear anything if you convince yourself enough.

_ “Now, we sleep. We could stand to rest a few hours before trying to come up with a plan, right now.” _

__ A low mutter of disapproval and reluctance sounded from the other voice; words that Riley couldn't quite place. She looked down at the pistol in her hand, which held only two bullets. Her heart hurt for a fleeting moment. She could almost hear the genuine concern in that soft voice. Only once had she ever spoken to someone like that, but that was very long ago. It was a time she had tried desperately to forget.

_ “Don't give me that. I'd like to see you come up with a plan right now. You can barely keep your eyes open.”  _ Another quiet complaint. Riley lowered the gun, her mind weighing the option of curling up on the couch, leaving the pair undisturbed in the bedroom. The tarp smacked against itself in the wind, as though giving Riley her answer.  _ “Please. Just try and sleep. For me?” _

__ Riley ground her teeth, forcing back the emotions and memories that were daring to surface. She pushed herself off of the wall and threw the door open, already aiming her pistol. The two in the room were mirroring her stance before the door even bounced off the wall. It was hard at first, to make out the features of the two in the dim light. The shorter one stood in front, her eyes drawn and serious. Curly black hair spilled out across her shoulders and her lips were pressed into a thin line. Then, the other figure floated into view, and Riley knew.

Ghosts were real. They had to be.

Standing before her, not ten feet away was the pale face she had seen in her dreams and nightmares alike, haunting her for years. A face she had yet to forget, even when she'd tried to leave everything behind.

_ “Holy shit.” _ The ghost stumbled, the gun in her hand faltering as the pale face paled even more. The shorter girl knit her brows together, backing up a step and throwing a concerned – and confused – look to the ghost. Riley was cold all over. She had died out in that storm, she was sure of it.

“Ellie?” The dark haired girl spoke up, taking a cautious step towards the taller girl, and Riley dared not move. If she moved, the apparition would disappear. The girl once again looked between Riley and the spirit, the concern now taking over what had once been confusion. “What's going on?”

_ “Riley?”  _ The ghost spoke her name, and it echoed in her ears. The voice floated around her as a cold breeze, and even the lopsided smile on Ellie's face was exactly the same. Every freckle, every dimple was the same. Everything that Riley had once loved.

“Woah, wait, Riley?” The dark haired girl had lowered her gun, looking to Ellie with realization dawning on her features.  _ “The  _ Riley?”

“Holy shit, you- you're alive?” Riley's eyes dropped down to Ellie's arm, the one where she'd been bit all those years ago. She still hadn't found the words to speak, even as Ellie crossed the room to her. Where the bite had once been, it was now covered in an intricate tattoo, but even under the ink, Riley could almost see the displaced skin beneath it. “I thought you were dead!”

The tattooed arm reached towards her, and that's when Riley snapped out of it, flinching backwards and just out of her reach. “Me?” She cried, her voice almost shrill. Her body was shaking.  _ This couldn't be true, could it? I know what I saw.  _ “Ellie your...You were dead, Ellie! Your arm...” Her dark eyes once again fell upon the tattoo that now wrapped itself around Ellie's arm. It was there. She knew it was.

Ellie clamped a hand over the bite, protectively, and her eyes narrowed at the mention of it. “Yeah, what of it?” Her eyes were almost challenging, but not in the dreadful warning she had imagined they would be. Riley's heart sank.  _ It was true. All of it. So how....?  _ The redhead eased herself forward, standing beside the dark haired girl before reaching out once again to Riley, who still could only stare in disbelief.

The dark haired girl had wrapped her arm around Ellie's back, resting it between her shoulder blades as though she too didn't quite know how to approach the situation. “Stay with us for the night,” she offered, after gauging Ellie's face for a moment. “You'll die out there and we have...well, not much but there's plenty of blankets.”

Riley watched Ellie, and those green hues never left hers. All those years, somehow Ellie had managed to survive. Was it a secret? Who all knew? How did it happen? In that horrible moment, Riley's world was turning upside down around her. In that horrible moment, she couldn't even breathe. Because in that moment of horrible realization, she knew that it had been the ghost of Ellie Williams she'd been hunting the entire time.


	3. Ellie

Ellie was dreaming. That was the first, and only thing that had come to her mind. She was positive that she was still asleep, and any second she would wake up to find Dina curled up beside her with her arm draped across Ellie. She'd wake up to the screaming winds and banging old doors and the crackle of the fire. She kept waiting for that moment, but the longer the three of them sat in that room, the less she was counting on it. The storm still raged beyond the walls of the cabin, but the silence within stretched on.

Before her in the chair beside the fireplace was the most familiar face she'd seen in a long time. So familiar yet so very different. In the back of her mind, she could see those same dark eyes watching her with a careful – yet horrified – expression. She could hear the trembling in her voice and absolute sorrow that spilled from her eyes. There was none of that now, though. Only a cautious and guarded expression. Ellie would have liked to look past it, but she couldn't. Maybe she could convince herself that it was a trick of the light, a mixup in circumstance. But no, she knew that beautiful girl all too well, and she'd be naive to believe that was such an unguarded expression.

In that suffocating silence, she allowed her green eyes to roam over the girl that was curled up beside the fire. She was far taller now, though still maybe not as tall as Ellie. Her hair now spilled around her face in tight, messy curls that could hardly be contained by the beat up hat she wore. If Ellie's gaze remained long enough, she would feel a twitch come to her lips.

If she were to say she was overwhelmed with joy, that would surely be and understatement. However, though she was elated to be reunited with her old friend, there was also a gnawing feeling in her stomach; a mix of confusion, disbelief, and maybe even a little anger. Forcing herself to swallow those emotions, however, Ellie cleared her throat and shifted. Sure, there had been nights where she had fantasized the day where she might again see Riley. Though, of course, in that fantasy she would have also entertained the idea that she had made it out of the mall alive. The two would have had a joyous reunion, and they would have run off together.

However now, in the cold reality that they faced, her former friend had regarded her with nothing less than a chilling hostility that even Ellie found herself marveling at. Surely their time apart hadn't been so terrible, had it? Nor had Ellie been able to fault herself for it. Riley's actions that day were her own, and even Ellie had come to terms with that, no matter how much it hurt her to think about.

“So...uh-” Ellie lifted her hand, running her fingers through her hair. Riley's gaze didn't waver from the tattoo. Ellie's mind raced; what was there even to say? Everything felt so muddled and disorienting that the only thing keeping her grounded was Dina's presence sitting beside her. “How'd you get all the way out here? I mean, I thought after Boston-”

“I was looking for something,” Riley's answer came short.

Ellie snapped her mouth shut, sharing a look with Dina. Much to Ellie's appreciation, her girlfriend had remained relatively quiet in the several minutes following Riley's arrival. But even now, Ellie could see that Riley's antics were beginning to get under Dina's skin. “Where you headed?” Dina had inquired, her words as pointed as the look on her face. Dark eyes had followed Riley's gaze, landing on the decorated skin of Ellie's forearm, and her brows knitted together. The fire cracked, logs knocking together and sending a display of sparks into the air. Riley never flinched. Drawing a breath, Dina tried a different approach. “So, Ellie's told me a lot about you. You guys got into trouble a lot?” Her gentle demeanor was anything but gentle, and the redhead could hear it in her voice. One quick glance in her girlfriend's direction verified that was indeed the case. Her dark eyes were narrow, an underlying suspicion and hostility edging her words, but even then, Riley didn't seem to budge.

_ Crack.  _ The door slammed against the all outside. Riley's eyes were trained on the bite, and only the bite. Ellie shifted, tugging the sleeve down over the mark, as if to draw her old friend back out of whatever trance she was in. Instead, it only earned her a cold stare. Desperation twinged under her skin as she stared at Riley. What had happened all those years ago? And why now was she so hostile?

_ “Riley, go! You gotta get outta here!” _

__ _ “Ellie, no. I'm not leaving you here.” _

__ _ “I'm dead anyways, just fucking-” Ellie shoved Riley as hard as she could. Pain blossomed in the bite on her arm. The burning was unbearable. It burned and itched something awful. She could feel the infection spreading up her arm. Each new growth around the wound ignited her arm in a hot pain that stole her consciousness for a brief moment. “Just fucking go, alright? Fuck!” Another spasm of pain flared through her arm. A fierce burning pressed itself against the wound, like a hot iron and she drew a breath. _

__ _ The shrieking of the Infected were inching closer, and thin, rotting nails were dragging against the outside door. Riley could make it, if she climbed through the air vent. Ellie would die, sure, but she was aware of that. Somehow, in her mind, she'd already made peace with that from the moment they entered the mall. _

__ _ Riley's eyes were wide, dread and sorrow dancing around on her face. Remorse. Regret. _

__ _ Reluctance. _

__ _ The door creaked, and Ellie gave Riley another shove. Ellie was destined to die, there in that mall. She was destined to turn into one of those creatures, or die trying to fight her way out of it. But she wasn't going to let Riley share that destiny. “Just go.” The war in Riley's eyes had ceased, and a determined smile crossed her face. Ellie's insides sank, but her best friend didn't give her much time to react. _

__ _ “I'll see you around, Ellie.” _

__ _ She had turned on her heel in such a swift and fluid motion, Ellie didn't have time to register the new weight in the palm of her hand, or the way Riley threw the door open with such ferocity. She heard the gunfire of Riley's pistol, and she heard herself screaming for her friend. She was an idiot. She was an idiot and she loved her. She loved her and she was watching her die. _

__ _ Crack. Crack.  _ The door slammed the wall again, and Ellie pulled herself from her daze. There were nights in which she had fantasized Riley's survival. But she'd counted that night, twenty infected had chased after her friend down that hallway. A scoff left Ellie's lips as she looked down, her eyes now roaming the disfigured skin beneath the dark ink. “I thought back to that night a lot,” she muttered, and she felt both pairs of eyes on her. “Even recently. You took what was left of my ammo. Left me with almost nothing. I had two bullets left.” Her pinky trailed over the mark. “Sometimes I wondered why I didn't pull the trigger.”

“Did you know that Marlene is dead?”

Ellie's eyes shot over to Riley, who was meeting her gaze for the first time. A knife pierced her heart at the same time the breath was forced from her lungs. There was that iron rod again, twisting itself around under her skin.

“Marlene? Ellie, what's she talking about?”

_ Crack. Crack. Crack.  _ The door was too loud now, the wind too violent. There was a weight curling itself on top of Ellie's chest. Even Dina's hand on her shoulder refused to register in her mind.

_Swear to me._ _Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true._

__ _ “Did you know that Marlene is dead?” _

__ _ I swear. _

_ Bang. _

__ The final cracking of the door shattered the tense air, and Dina shot to her feet. “Fuck, Ellie we gotta move!”

Ellie whirled, spying the shadows of Infected dancing along the walls past the hallway.  _ Was that all the banging?  _ Dread boiled in her stomach.  _ A basement. Fucking stupid.  _ Grinding her teeth, Ellie drew her shorty from the bag on the floor, firing two rounds into the first few that staggered into the room. Bullet shells rained at her sides as the two other girls fired shot after shot into the rotting skin of the incoming creatures. Already running low on ammo, Ellie cursed. “Fuck it,” she hissed. “Guys, we gotta make a break for it!”

Their final moments in Jackson played through her mind, briefly, coupled with the events as of recent, took an almost dizzying toll on her. She shook her head, forcing it out of her mind as she tore her machete from its place in her bag, taking the first break as her escape. The two girls followed suit, firing shots when they could. Two more Infected had scrambled down the hall at an alarming rate, and Ellie swung at one of them, knocking it backwards long enough for the rotting hands of its friend to curl around the pockets of her backpack. Ellie snarled, whirling on the Infected as gunshots fired.  _ Where the fuck were they all coming from? Shit!  _ She sank the edge of her machete into the side of the Runners face once. Twice. It shrieked at her, the weapon slipping through her fingers as the creature slammed her against the wall. Her shoulder screamed as the picture behind her shattered on the impact. “Mother _ fucker!” _

“Ellie!” Dina's voice pulled her attention for half a second, and half a second too long. It hissed, reeling back for just that second before snapping its teeth at her neck. It caught the hood of her coat in its jaws, and Ellie barricaded herself with her arm before it decided to try again. Desperation flared under her skin, her mind racing.  _ Fuck- _

“Just. Fucking. Die!” She seethed, punctuating each word with a ruthless and desperate punch to the Infected's face. An agonized and frustrated scream tore from her lips as the creature sunk its teeth into her fingers in a final act of its anger. It locked into her flesh, leaning closer to her until she could smell the rot and mold radiating off of it.  _ “Fuck! Off!” _

Two more gunshots fired, the final two bullets now emptied into the skull of the Infected. Blood trickled across the wooden floors, the entire cabin filling up with the stench of rotting flesh and mold. She blinked her gaze to Dina, who was standing beside her. Panic bubbled in her chest momentarily, until she ensured that the blood on Dina didn't belong to her. She was panting, looking a little shaken, but otherwise unharmed.“Nice save,” Ellie commented, a relieved smile pulling at her lips for a moment until she realized just what the horrified look was for. She lifted her hand to take in the damage. Blood dribbled down over her fingers and her hand. She spread her fingers apart, finding none of them broken. The wound twinged with a burning fire and she hissed, staggering back against the wall.

“Fuck,” Dina breathed, horror written all over her face. “Ellie-”

“Guys!” Another gunshot fired and the two snapped their heads to the attention of Riley. “Let's get the fuck out of here while we still can!”

In their haste to leave, Ellie's injury had slipped her mind and she hoped that the same could be said for Dina as well, for Dina's sake. The three of them barreled out into the storm, stumbling and staggering blindly towards the dim shape of the barn in the distance. Howls and shrieks of Infected echoed through the wind, the dumb creatures already losing one another in the snow. Ellie could have scoffed, though she knew her place on top of Shimmer's back was hardly any safer. Her mind calculated the chances of dying from the snow versus the Infected. For a moment, she considered sneaking back in and barricading themselves in. But the longer she watched them staggering through the snow, the more it seemed like a bad idea.

“Let's go,” Riley muttered and Ellie glanced at the girl behind her. “I know a place where we can go. It's not close, but we could stumble across something on the way.”

Ellie looked to Dina for her agreement, and the same cloudy look was in her eyes as she watched Riley. Those same eyes filled with concern when they flicked to Ellie, and her heart sank.  _ Of course she wouldn't forget.  _ The redhead shifted her hand under the sleeve of her spare coat, flexing her fingers. Pain flickered up her arm and she ground her teeth. “Ellie, are you sure-”

“I'm fine, Dina.” Ellie's gaze shot over to Dina. The hissing grew closer, and the shapes that staggered were now almost into view. “Alright, Riley. Just tell me where to go.”


	4. Riley

The snow had begun to let up, but only barely. The girl still wracked her mind from the back of Ellie's horse, desperate to make out shapes and landmarks that were hidden beyond the thick white that still whipped around them. Her dark gaze had diverged from the path ahead of them, though only for a moment as she took in the sight of the girl in front of her. It would be so easy, now, to just end things. That's why Riley had come after all, to fulfill her vendetta. To avenge the woman who had once meant so much to her, but....how could she do that after all this time? Surely she could let it go, just this once. Maybe for old time's sake.

_ Maybe. _

There was that word, again. Only this time, she allowed herself to briefly fantasize about one particular  _ maybe.  _ But no, too much time had passed and she couldn't allow herself to be blinded by the past. That past, one once so bright and hopeful, had been lost to the ever darkening world around them. It was something that they couldn't help, and a situation that couldn't be changed. But even so.....Riley's gaze flicked down to Ellie's hand, which was sticky with blood. Beneath the thick crimson, she could make out the marred skin that lay for all to see. The deep shape of a bite mark, one very similar to the one that Riley had seen on Ellie's arm, oh so many years ago. How long had that been, now? How long-

_ “Riley.”  _ The familiar sharp voice jolted Riley from her thoughts, and she snapped her eyes back to the path before them. They'd come to a complete stop, the wind still tearing around them. She looked around wildly. The world was nothing more than a blurry and fuzzy mess in the dark. Tall trees loomed over them, branches reaching out like thin skeletal hands.

“Fuck it,” the other girl – Dina – groaned, rubbing her hands together. “I say we just keep riding. We're going in circles. If we just go straight-”

“Riley knows where she's going.” Ellie was quick to come to Riley's defense, much to the surprise of the other two girls, and the narrowed eyes cast in Riley's direction wasn't entirely lost on her. However, neither was the situation, and the odds of surviving were piling up against them.

Snow was collecting now in Ellie's hair, which had slipped free of the hood. She was facing her former friend now, looking over her shoulder with a set of determined mossy eyes. Thick white flakes clung to the girls lashes, and her lips were terribly pale, but Riley couldn't bring herself to speak. She'd been so sure in the cabin that she had already met her end, but now....now, she was sure she was dreaming.

It was a horrible dream, one of the nightmares she so often had. The girl who was staring at her was a corpse. Any second now that bite on her hand, her arm....they'd take her consciousness and turn her into one of those creatures.  _ Then, I wouldn't have the burden of guilt when it came to aiming a gun at her.  _ The corpse before her trembled, fighting off the cold, and Riley shook away the thoughts that were snaking into her mind. The bitter cold that stole the feeling from her fingertips served as a reminder that this was not a dream. It couldn't be.  _ It had to be. _

_ Just keep swimming. _

__ “We're almost there,” she snapped back, shooting Dina a scowl. Ellie's eyes searched her face for a moment longer before she nodded, smacking the reigns yet again. Beneath Riley's arms that were wrapped around the taller girls waist, she could feel just how badly the girl was shaking. Casting a glance in Dina's direction, she could almost see that she wasn't fairing much better. “It's just ahead,” Riley called out. Her voice was carried away in the wind, but the smallest dip of Ellie's head gave her the indication that she'd heard.

How long they battled against the raging storm, Riley couldn't tell. Her mind teetered in and out of consciousness, bouncing between what she imagined to be a dream, and reality. There were times she couldn't tell which it was. The warmth of the girl in front of her felt all too real, but surely it couldn't be.

_ “Fuck! Ha, that's the last one!” Ellie's smug voice carried through the room, now devoid of any infected. The last one had collapsed at her feet, the small switchblade still sticking out from its head. Riley's eyes shot between the two, and she quickly approached her friend. _

__ _ “See? What did I tell you? We're unstoppable,” Riley grinned at her. There was no trace of contempt in Ellie's eyes, anymore. Not in that way that they sparkled in the light of the mall, or in the way that her lips were pulled into the biggest of smiles. Oh, how badly Riley wanted to close the distance between their lips, again. _

__ _ “We're the motherfucking queens of this place!” The redhead threw her head back and laughed, arms stretched out at her sides. That's when the blood left Riley's body. There it was. The mark. “Ha- hey, what's wrong?” _

__ _ Her mouth was full of cement. She couldn't even formulate the words, let alone a coherent thought. Surely she couldn't be seeing this. Ellie had just cut herself on some glass, that was all. Right? “Your arm...” _

__ _ The green eyes that had been glittering with excitement moments before had now darkened, and any trace of her former euphoria had completely diminished. Now, only a look of pure hopelessness and defeat was left behind in its wake. She wished there was reassurance, any sort of comfort she could offer her friend. But when they got right down to it, she knew Ellie knew as well as anyone else that it was over. Any comfort now would be in vain, and they both knew that. For a short moment, Riley had pictured a future. One far away from the quarantine zone. One far away from the Fireflies. She'd pictured it with Ellie but now, that was all gone. Ellie was going to die. Ellie was going to die, and it was all her fault. _

__ “There!” The unfamiliar shout tore her from her trance just in time to see Dina disappear through the haze on her horse.

Ellie cursed. “Goddammit, Dina. Stick together!” Riley tightened her grip around the redhead's waist as they picked up speed, following closely behind the other girl. In the distance, Riley could make out a large, and rather magnificent building. A resort, she'd imagine. It stood high on the top of the hill, the front made entirely of windows to overlook the entire mountain.

As they approached the large building, Riley's apprehension grew. They'd be too exposed; too many windows. Too much glass. The same turmoil clouded Ellie's gaze, Riley noticed, though she kept her mouth shut. They wouldn't last even an hour more out in the storm. The two of them trotted up beside Dina, who exchanged some sort of look with Ellie. There was a painstaking amount of concern and fear in those dark eyes, but Ellie had made no indication that she'd noticed.

“It'll have to do,” Ellie called over the wind. “Those cult fucks couldn't have followed us in the storm. Just be wary of infected. We're low on ammo. Make every shot count.”

  
  


The inside was, much to their surprise, relatively cleared of infected. It hadn't taken long for them to secure themselves the biggest room, the one overlooking the mountains. Within ten minutes, they'd loaded up the fireplace and had themselves a nice fire to warm the up. It hadn't taken long for the three of them to succumb to their exhaustion, and they soon slipped off to sleep. The dreams that came to Riley that night weren't those of nightmares, the ones where she woke up in a blind terror or in tears, but rather, they were dreams of the bright future she'd once imagined.

Only now, she didn't know what that future was. She knew there was no utopia, no town safe enough to shield her from her own bloody desires. She'd spent so long chasing after the mysterious people who'd been involved in Marlene's murder that to just...give up? Surely that was out of the question.

The girl allowed herself to lay there, curled up by the fire and sort through her thoughts. Maybe it truly was a nightmare she was in, though only one with no escape. No, now she'd have to see her own way out of this hellish scenario. But how would it end? A scowl curled at her lips for a moment before the hushed voices drew her attention away from her thoughts.

_ “The view's kinda nice,”  _ she heard the gentle voice comment, followed by a breathy chuckle. Riley could hear right through her act; she could hear the nerves playing into her former friend's voice.  _ “Reminds me of the creek trail you and I used to patrol.” _

__ _ “Oh please,”  _ the other voice scoffed, a voice that raised the hair on Riley's neck. The voice sparked a level of emotion in her that she couldn't quite understand, but it wasn't a feeling she enjoyed.  _ “The creek trail is a thousand times better than this.” _

__ _ “Oh, so it's more private,”  _ Ellie huffed, and Riley could imagine her rolling those bright eyes of hers.  _ “I could get used to this. Just...being away from everyone.”  _ Silence weighed in the following minutes, and Riley could only imagine the heaviness of the situation between the two. Finally, one of them sighed.

_ “Ellie, what're we gonna do? You can't go back to Jackson and I'm not just gonna-” _

__ _ “We couldn't go back anyways,”  _ the redhead growled, and footsteps followed.

__ _ “Dammit, El, that's not what this is about!”  _ Dina's voice was rising ever so slightly and Riley's lips twitched. On some level, she could sympathize with the girl. After all, that horrid feeling...she knew it all too well. The numbness, the fear. The absolute hopelessness.

_ The final ceramic pot shattered, and Riley could only watch it. She wished she could share Ellie's rage and frustration. Instead, she only felt this odd emptiness. She'd watched as Ellie smashed anything in sight, letting out her anger in violent ways. Even as she threw down the bat, Riley could see she was still seething. If Riley could have given her all the pots in the world to break, she would have, if it would make her feel better. _

__ _ The numbing despair that Riley felt only grew every time she caught a glimpse of the bloody wound. She kept praying to something, anything, that it would go away. That somehow the bite wasn't what they thought it was. But that was impossible, and they both knew it. _

__ _ Groaning in frustration, Ellie flung herself to the ground beside Riley. Her back hit the collapsed shelf with a loud thud, and she pulled her knees up to her chest. Only now Riley could see that she'd been crying. Maybe not a lot, but the redness in her eyes and the slight shine to her cheeks had given it away. “You ah,” Ellie swiped at her nose with a frustrated sniff. “Should probably be getting out of here. Marlene's probably wondering where you are. Y'know. Firefly shit or whatever.” _

__ _ “I'm not a Firefly anymore, remember?” Riley muttered, the shadow of a smile crossing her face. The comment earned a weak punch from an irritated Ellie, but at least she got her friend's attention. _

__ _ “Just fuckin' go,” Ellie groaned, burying her face in her arms. “Be a Firefly or whatever. Find your light. It's not like it matters.” _

__ _ Riley shrugged, pulling her knees to her chest to mirror Ellie. She looked over the figure of the redhead, and her heart ached desperately. The wound was already beginning to blossom ugly cysts. Within the next day or two, Ellie would be completely lost to one little bite. One little wound borne from one reckless decision. “Maybe I already found my light.” _

__ _ Her friend was silent for a long moment before she finally turned her head, cheek resting against her arm. Riley had never seen her look so hopeless, and yet...somewhere beneath it all, there was still some semblance to the old Ellie. The determined redhead that took on a pack of infected with only a few bullets and a switchblade. The same Ellie who would never go down without a fight. “So, what now?” _

__ What now?

_ They could sit around, and wait in silence for Ellie to fall to the curse that befell all the infected. They could run, but from what? Riley could leave Ellie to suffer by herself, or she could stay with her until the very end. But she didn't want to do that. She couldn't. _

__ _ “Now?” Riley met Ellie's gaze, trying to mirror that same determination and confidence, even in such a horrible situation. All these years they'd been friends, she'd always admired the redhead's determination. Her bravery. She'd always wanted to live up to that, to be like her. Now, she was offering Ellie one last chance. _

__ _ One last chance to fight. _

__ _ “Now, we fight. For every last moment we have together.” _

__ _ Ellie lifted her head, eyes falling to scan over the bite that was now crusted over with blood. Her gaze was thoughtful, if not a little brooding. Taking a breath, Riley continued. “Whether that be two minutes-” _

__ _ Ellie's arm dropped back over her knees, an irritated sigh escaping her lips. _

__ _ “-or two days-” _

__ _ Riley squeezed her eyes shut as they finally began to burn. _

__ _ “-we don't give that up.” _

__ _ The weight of Ellie's head rested against Riley's shoulder, and for the first time since the accident, she allowed herself to cry. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating fast enough. I've been working on original projects and most of the time my writers block has gotten in the way. 
> 
> Until then I'm just going to pretend I know where this is going and pretend I know what a plot is. But there's probably going to be some angst soon. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!


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